Reawakening
by jakuzabi
Summary: Set after the AizenRukia incident. Both Byakuya and Renji come to realize that all work and no play is not fulfilling or enjoyable. They finally find pleasure in each other. ByaRen Yaoi


disclaimer: As you all know, only Kubo Tite owns Bleach. sigh

a/n: This is my favorite yaoi pairing from Bleach. I can see Renji with Shuuhei as well, but I love how the fire and ice personalities soothe each other. One of my favorite fanfic writers, Befanini (Sanzo/Gojyo, mature rating!), explains it well: only fire can melt the ice, and ice quench the fire.

**Re-awakening**

**Chapter 1**

"A-BA-RAI!" hollered the regal shinigami.

"Hai, Kuchiki-taichou," answered the redhead innocently as he poked his head through the door's opening.

The dark haired man stood frowning. "Stop with the pranks. It's getting annoying."

"Just trying to keep you on your toes, taichou."

"Trying to shock me is not the right way to do it. That's what training is for," replied Byakuya a little exasperated.

Renji pondered for a moment. "Oh," he said, while scratching his head. "How 'bout just for the hell of it, then?"

"Renji!"

"Hai, hai. No more." said the redhead outwardly serious. Inwardly, he was amused. He enjoyed getting a reaction out of his taichou, any reaction. It made the day that much more enjoyable.

The fukutaichou went back to his desk and sat down. He sifted through the recent events quickly and realized, that although some were horrific and could still damage Soul Society, a few pleased him. The most obvious was Rukia's rescue. Rukia was his oldest and closest friend and he was so glad everything ended well. She was safe and whole. The second was himself being jolted back to his senses by a newly made friend. By always trying to prove himself, he had gotten too serious and too regimented . The third one, however, was the one that made him the most excited. Renji had always admired Byakuya and used him as a model to measure up against and to one day surpass. Yet, he was always so cold and impersonal and behaved downright appallingly to Rukia when she was tried and awaiting execution, that Renji's esteem of the man had plummeted. Until Ichigo had showed up. The fight between the two had somehow gotten the royal shinigami's facade to crack and he caught a glimpse of the true person of Kuchiki Byakuya. Then, instead of retreating back behind a mask, the Sixth Division taichou followed his own beliefs and joined in to save his adopted sister. That act by Byakuya, as well as restoring his admiration, communicated to Renji that there was more depth and complexity to the man than he had perceived to date. The time they spent in the hospital together, even though Byakuya didn't say or do much, confirmed it. So, Renji decided to employ different tactics to learn more about the man he valued.

The pranks were just stupid little gags, but they made Renji feel like he was a kid again. It was something he and Rukia used to do when they were little as a way of keeping their, and their friends', spirits lifted. As such, they were nice memories. But, Renji considered, their usefulness was now over. The pranks did keep Byakuya from dwelling too long on the past, which was good, but they weren't helping Renji get any closer to his taichou. The closeness of being in Byakuya's arms and in his bed, Renji said honestly to himself, was what he really wanted. How to go about it, he wasn't sure. Kuchiki was in a completely different league than him.

A couple hours later, upon deciding to try the nice approach, the redhead knocked on the inner door.

"Come in," called a voice.

Opening the door, Renji entered with a tray and said pleasantly, "I made tea. Would you like a cup?"

Byakuya looked at him quizzically. "Just tea? No surprises?"

Renji laughed. "Don't worry, nothing will pop out of the cup." As he handed his superior the tea, he rambled, "I guess I just got carried away because, regardless of what Aizen-taichou is plotting...Oh wait, he's not a taichou anymore. Anyway, I've just been so happy that all the people I care about are okay." When Byakuya's eyes met his, the redhead blushed. Bowing quickly to hide the heated cheeks he felt, Renji quickly said, "Time for training," and left the room.

Byakuya arched an eyebrow as his fukutaichou closed the door. Not sure why a blush would occur, he decided not to dwell on it and, instead, turned his attention back to the pile of work in front of him.

The rest of the day went by relatively peacefully. Byakuya tackled his paperwork and Renji went to train and spar with the younger members of Sixth Division. The redhead stayed with them throughout the afternoon and dinner and then went home to his apartment. Byakuya, on the other hand, stayed until late finishing up his duties and then went straight home.

After his dinner, the regal shinigami went to the garden to meditate. As he was clearing his mind, a high-spirited face with forehead tattoos and a red ponytail popped in. Confused at this new intrusion, Byakuya's eyebrows knitted together. He allowed his thoughts to roam freely trying to understand the reason for the image. True, he was his second seat. True, they were on better terms with each other. But why would his mind think about him now? Twenty minutes later, the dark haired shinigami still was confused. He sighed and got up, making his way to his room for a bath and finally bed. As he got under the covers, Byakuya relaxed and began to drift off to sleep, his conscious mind oblivious to the image of Renji reappearing and the smile that developed because of it.

The next morning the dark haired shinigami got up leisurely, had breakfast, and strolled over to the Division Six's training grounds. Even though he watched from afar, he could see and sense the abilities of his squad. As he continued monitoring the session, his eyes drifted to his fukutaichou who was sparring with their eighth seated member. Byakuya noted the aggressiveness Renji displayed, which, of course, was his normal level of intensity. He thought about how the red hair matched the fiery personality it belonged to and grinned inwardly. Thinking further, he decided fiery and passionate were two words that described his fukutaichou very well. The redhead did do everything with passion, Byakuya agreed with himself, be it fighting, arguing, or goofing around with his friends. His thoughts wandered to Renji's lovelife. He chuckled as he vividly imagined the boisterousness of said shinigami's 'nighttime activities'. He figured the redhead would have to find a very secure woman, one that could match him and argue back, so she wouldn't be dwarfed by him. Abarai wouldn't go for any of the mousy types. He considered the other fukutaichous and couldn't imagine Renji with any of them. The only girl who could equal Renji's attititude was Rukia, but Byakuya understood their's was a friendship only, especially since Rukia was in love with Ichigo. So, he wondered, did Renji have anyone? Even Byakuya had had someone special to share an intimate relationship with. The regal shinigami had grown fond of his fukutaichou and thinking that Renji possibly had never tasted that sweetness, bothered him slightly.

Observing the man with different eyes, he noted that Renji was, actually, very good looking. His features might be angular, but they were softened by his expressive eyes and cocky grin. He had a muscular body that was not overly bulky, but, instead, perfectly cut. His hair, also, was of a beautiful red color. Byakuya had never seen it down and wondered how it would change his features. It must be very becoming, he mused, as he envisioned Renji's hair loose and flowing over his tan, bare chest And that chest was unique, acknowledged Byakuya, with its linear tattoos trailing over his trunk and arm muscles in a tribal pattern. He followed the pattern in his mind as it weaved up the arms, across the chest and down his taut abdomen. He wondered if it continued over his hips and down his legs. He didn't remember if he had seen Renji's legs before, but figured they must be as muscular and tan as the rest of his body. His thoughts then returned to Renji's face with it's lively, red eyes, disarming smile, and full lips. He paused at the lips, watching them part... "Whoa," mumbled Byakuya, shaking his head, while not realizing he had become flushed. "What am I doing! He's my subordinate!" Sighing deeply while straightening out his robes, he murmured, "I guess it's just been way too long. Yet I really shouldn't think that way, my time is past." He sighed again and departed quickly, returning to Division Six's headquarters.

Renji was ecstatic when he saw his taichou observing the squad's training, and thus stepped-up his sparring with Masato. He couldn't see any expressions at the far distance, but it didn't matter. Kuchiki-san was there, something that hadn't happened in a long, long time. He kept watch out of the corner of his eye and, although knew he wouldn't stay for the entire session, was a little disappointed when he finally did leave..

Around mid-afternoon, Renji stopped by his division's office under the pretense of seeing if his taichou had any work for him. In reality, he wanted to find out how his superior had viewed the training session and if he might supervise more and even, possibly, join in.

When Renji arrived, Byakuya's door was halfway open. Rapping twice, the redhead asked, "Kuchiki-taichou? The members are done with their training for the day. Got anything else for me to do?"

"That's all for today, Abarai-kun," Byakuya said in a monotone "However, you need to work more on defense and strategy. You rush in without a plan too often. I think it would benefit you to train with me. Come by my house tomorrow morning at eight. Make sure, however, you tell Takahashi Kaito that he is in charge of the squad for the day."

"Hai, taichou," said Renji slightly surprised. "I'll let him know. Anything else?"

Byakuya nodded no and returned to reading a document.

"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Arigatou," Renji replied with a grin, then bowed and left the room.

Walking to the living quarters, the redhead pondered on the turn of events while sporting a huge grin on his face. First the taichou came to watch them, and now, they were going to train together and on the Kuchiki's grounds, no less. Life was definitely getting better, Renji thought.

Renji found and told Kaito relatively quickly, and then went to have dinner. Afterwards, he met with a few of the other fukutaichous for their weekly game of mahjong. Even though he lost many of the rounds, the redhead stayed pretty calm. This deviance from the norm didn't go unnoticed by Hisagi.

"Hey, Abarai," said Hisagi tauntingly. "Why so abnormal tonight? Did you finally get a date?"

"Shut up, Shuuhei," Renji shot back. "Just 'cuz I'm not working my way through all the division's girls like you…"

Hisagi interrupted him and cooed, "Well, at least I'm warm and satisfied at night. Can you say that…at all?"

At that jibe, Renji lost control and started to lunge at his friend. Anticipating the action, Kira stepped between the two and grabbed the redhead's shoulders

"Renji-kun," Izuru said soothingly while holding him back. "Shuuhei was just kidding."

The redhead shrugged off Kira's hands and replied angrily, "Whatever. I'm out of here." Leaving in a huff, he went back to his apartment, deciding to just go to sleep so he'd be up and ready on time.

While Renji lay in bed, he mulled over what Hisagi had said. It was true he hadn't dated much, but it was because he was so focused on his goals. "I'm not weird," he said trying to comfort himself, "just busy…Shuuhei's an idiot!" he shouted to the ceiling. "I don't have to sleep with a new girl every night, like he does, to prove I'm a man. And I don't want _just_ the physical satisfacion. I want more than one night. I want to be part of that person's life for a long time." At the end of the thought, an image of Byakuya sprang into his mind. Smirking he added, "Then there's also whom I prefer, which might shock a few people." He got comfortable under the covers and let his mind fantasize about him in his taichou's arms, falling asleep as he kissed that aristocratic mouth and caresssed ivory skin.

**reviews/comments?**


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